Resembling a winter-bare tree, the Yukon River branches across the frozen Alaska coastline in this photo-like image from January 11, 2010.
Published Jan 13, 2010
The Volga Delta has grown significantly over the past 130 years.
Published Nov 12, 2018
This elevation image shows that the Irrawaddy Delta in Burma (Myanmar) is clearly flat, much of it below five meters in elevation. This low elevation makes the delta particularly prone to flooding from storm surges.
Published Sep 22, 2009
One of Africa’s largest river systems reaches the Indian Ocean with less water and sediment today than in the past.
Published Dec 12, 2013
Spain's Ebro Delta has recently experienced tremendous shape-shifting.
Published Mar 13, 2018
The Ural River is one of the two major rivers (the other is the Volga) that empty into the northern coast of the Caspian Sea, creating extensive wetlands. This image shows details of the Ural’s tree-like (or “digitate”) delta. This type of delta forms naturally when wave action is low, and sediment content in the river is high. New distributary channels form in the delta when the river breaches natural levees created by sediment deposition. The long main channel of the river in this image and several of the distibutary channels are too regular to be entirely natural, however. Like the famous Mississippi River delta in the United States, the Ural River delta has been significantly modified to reduce flooding and divert water.
Published Jun 6, 2005
Smoke billows from three small fires burning in the autumn landscape around the Yukon River in this true-color image from September 15, 2010.
Published Sep 16, 2010
The Ebro River Delta, located along the eastern coast of Spain, is one of the largest wetland areas in the western Mediterranean region.
Published Jul 26, 2004
After seven months encased in snow and ice, the delta emerges for the short Arctic summer.
Published Jun 14, 2019
A mosaic of sea ice shifted across the Bering Sea west of Alaska on February 5, 2008.
Published Feb 14, 2008
The Volga River drains much of western Russia’s industrial region as it travels southward to empty into the Caspian Sea. Over thousands of years, the river has built a tremendous delta that forms the northwestern shoreline of the Caspian Sea. The delta channels provide transportation between the heartland of Russia and the oil-rich Caspian Sea. The Volga’s extensive distributaries (branches to the sea) harbor habitat and rich fishing grounds for Russia’s famous beluga sturgeon, the source of beluga caviar. The delta’s wetlands, parts of which are designated as the Astrakhanskiy Biosphere Reserve, are important stopping points and breeding grounds for migrating water birds. This detailed astronaut photograph zooms in on a shipping channel in the western part of the delta.
Published Oct 23, 2006
alert message
